Some people may find content on this website distressing. Read more
New South Wales - Organisation

Ormond House (1884 - 1923)

  • Ormond House, Paddington, which includes girls' shelter

    "Ormond House," Paddington, which includes girls' shelter, 1912, courtesy of W.A. Gullick, Government Printer.
    Details

From
1884
To
1923
Categories
Children's Home, Government-run, Home and Receiving Home
Alternative Names
  • Central Depot for State Children (1890 - 1923)
  • Central Home (first known as, 1884 - c. 1890)
  • Girls' Shelter (1905 - 1923)
  • Juniper Hall
  • Metropolitan Children's Shelter
  • Metropolitan Girls Shelter (1905 - 1923)
  • Ormonde House (1884 - 1923)

Ormond House, in Oxford Street Paddington, was used by the State Children's Relief Board from 1884 until 1923. It was the Central Home or Central Depot, and was a receiving home and shelter for children of all ages. It took girls from Shaftesbury Reformatory in 1904 and Hillside Home for Mothers and Babies moved there in 1915, becoming Hillside Training Home in 1920. The Children's Court and Metropolitan Children's Shelter was at Ormond House from 1905 until 1911, during which time 2,400 children passed through the house every year. It was designated the Metropolitan Girls' Shelter from 1911 until 1923. In 1923 the State Children's Relief Board changed its name to the Child Welfare Department and moved its operations to other properties.

Details

Ormond House, the oldest surviving mansion in Sydney, was a significant building in the history of the State Children's Relief Board and many children who were state wards or moving through the court system passed through its doors from 1884 until 1923. Effectively, it was a transit point for children who were moving from one place to another, but some children, particularly older girls, spent years there.

Ormond was first established as a depot in 1884 and was called Central Home. Children were taken there when they were removed from the Roman Catholic and Protestant Orphanages, the Benevolent Asylum or the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children. From Ormond House they were issued with a set of clothing and boarded out (placed with foster guardians). Children being returned from boarding out placements were sent back to Ormond House, and some older girls lived there semi-permanently, caring for smaller children and sewing their clothes. From 1890 Ormond House was commonly called the Central Depot but it was also a children's home. In 1904 the girls from Shaftesbury Reformatory were moved to Ormond House, and Ormond House seems to have been used as a place to send female state wards who were difficult to manage.

In 1905 the Neglected Children and Juvenile Offenders Act created the Children's Court and, while the State Children's Relief Board waited for a new Children's Court to be built at Albion Street the court hearings took place at Ormond House. The house served as a shelter and receiving home for children who were waiting for court hearings or for transfer to boarding out or an institution until 1911, when the boys were moved to the Metropolitan Boys' Shelter at the Albion Street Children's Court. Ormond House was then designated the Metropolitan Girls' Shelter.

The 1908 State Children's Relief Board Annual Report states that 2,395 children passed through Ormond House in that year. Of these, 1,435 were wards of the State Children's Relief Board and 960 were children dealt with by the Children's Court. The figures the previous year had been similar.

Ormond House remained the Central Depot and served as the Metropolitan Girls' Shelter until 1923. In that year the State Children's Relief Board was replaced by the Child Welfare Department and the girls were moved to Bidura in Glebe. The Child Welfare Department relinquished Ormond in the same year.

Ormond House dates from 1823-1826 and is the oldest building in Paddington and the oldest surviving mansion in New South Wales. It was built by Robert Cooper as Juniper Hall, but renamed in the 1840s as Ormond House. After World War II it was renamed Juniper Hall.

The property has been owned by the National Trust since 1984. The Trust demolished a row of terraces that had been built on the front lawn and restored the house and its gardens. In the early 1990s it was the Museum of Australian Childhood. An artists' community also used the site.

In September 2012 the National Trust sold the propert to the Moran family, of Moran Healthcare. The Morans have ancestral connections with Robert Cooper and, according to the National Trust, intend to convert the property to an art gallery for the Moran Prizes. In 2013 Juniper Hall was opened as a gallery.

Location

1884 - 1923
Address - Ormond House was situated at 1 Ormond Street, corner of Oxford Street, Paddington. Location: Paddington

Related Concepts

  • Children's Court (1905 - )

    The first Children's Court in New South Wales was opened in Ormond House in 1905 and the property performed this role until 1912.

    Date: 1905 - 1912

Related Glossary Terms

  • Boarding Out (1881 - )

    Ormond House was a depot for children moving into boarding out, and who were between boarding out placements.

    Date: 1884 - 1923

Related Organisations

Related Places

  • Ormond House (1824 - )

    Ormond House, a State Children's Relief Board depot, shelter and children's court, was located in Ormond House.

    Date: 1884 - 1923

Publications

Reports

  • Report of the State Children's Relief Department, W.A. Gullick, Government Printer, Sydney, 1881-1893. Details
  • Report of the State Children's Relief Board, W.A. Gullick, Government Printer, Sydney, 1894-1920. Also available at https://www.opengov.nsw.gov.au/main. Details

Resource Sections

Online Resources

Photos

Title
"Ormond House," Paddington, which includes girls' shelter
Type
Image
Date
1912
Publisher
W.A. Gullick, Government Printer

Details

Ormond House, Paddington
Title
Ormond House, Paddington
Type
Image
Date
1916?
Source
J. Coulter Randwick Asylum Govt Printer, 1916

Details

Juniper Hall
Title
Juniper Hall
Type
Image
Date
c. 2012
Creator
Moore, Lucy
Publisher
NSW Office of Environment and Heritage

Details

Sources used to compile this entry: Report of the State Children's Relief Department, W.A. Gullick, Government Printer, Sydney, 1881-1893; Report of the State Children's Relief Board, W.A. Gullick, Government Printer, Sydney, 1894-1920. Also available at https://www.opengov.nsw.gov.au/main; 'Juniper Hall', in State Heritage Register, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, 2012, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=5045231; Chancellor, Jonathan, 'Sydney's Moran family takes the prize as National Trust offloads Juniper Hall for $4.5 million', Property Observer, 26 September 2012, https://www.urban.com.au/news/nsw/sydneys-moran-family-takes-the-prize-as-national-trust-offloads-juniper-hall-for-4-5-million; Crawford, John, 'Establishment of the Children's Court', in History of the Children's Court, Lawlink, Lawlink NSW, 2012, http://www.childrenscourt.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Establishment%20of%20the%20Children%27s%20Court%20-%20Then%20and%20100%20years%20on.pdf; Lawlink, 'The Children's Court of New South Wales: Timeline of Major Events 1905-2011', in History of the Children's Court, Lawlink, Lawlink NSW, 2012, http://www.childrenscourt.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/History%20-%20Timeline%20of%20major%20events.pdf; Oates, Justine, 'Historic Juniper Hall for sale', Wentworth Courier, 27 August 2012, http://web.archive.org/web/20120829002119/http://www.news.com.au/realestate/selling/historic-juniper-hall-for-sale/story-fndbawks-1226458809842; Parry, Naomi, 'Such a longing': black and white children in welfare in New South Wales and Tasmania, 1880-1940, Department of History, University of New South Wales, 2007, 361 pp, http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/40786.

Prepared by: Naomi Parry